CONCORD, N.H. -- Staff and volunteers of "Project
Osprey," a unique public/private partnership aimed at restoring to
New Hampshire a once-endangered species, gathered yesterday to mark the
successful culmination of their five-year effort.

During Project Osprey, the partners -- the New Hampshire
Fish and Game Department; New Hampshire Audubon; and Public Service of
New Hampshire -- worked together to foster the growth of the population
of this majestic raptor, also known as the Fish Hawk. Nesting sites were
identified, platform nests were designed, poles with platforms were raised,
predator guards were installed, and volunteers monitored and reported
on osprey activity.

Today, New Hampshire has a record number of ospreys
and active osprey nests. Project Osprey has sited 15 nesting structures
around the Granite State. Additionally, ospreys have been observed nesting
on platforms constructed and erected years earlier. There were 30 active
osprey nests in New Hampshire in 2003 and 54 young fledged, more than
10 times the number in 1980.

"The success of Project Osprey is proof that with
time, funding and dedicated people, we can bring back wildlife species
from the brink," said John Kanter, coordinator of the Nongame and
Endangered Wildlife Program for N.H. Fish and Game. "I hope that
learning about and celebrating osprey restoration will inspire an increased
commitment from people -- and from potential future wildlife partners
-- to work toward conserving all New Hampshire wildlife."

"We wouldn't have been able to achieve this success
had this not been a partnership," said David Houghton, President
of New Hampshire Audubon. "I hope this serves as a model for future
projects as we try to deal with other threats to our wildlife such as
the unprecedented growth New Hampshire is now facing."

"PSNH is extremely proud to be Project Osprey's
corporate partner," said John D. MacDonald, PSNH Vice President -
Operations. "We take our responsibility to the environment seriously.
Through this experience, and many others across the state, we've learned
the value of sharing our resources and working with others to achieve
mutual goals efficiently and effectively."

New Hampshire's osprey population was virtually wiped
out in the 1960s as a result of contamination linked to DDT, a toxic pesticide.
Over time, the partners began to work informally on a number of projects
and ospreys slowly repopulated the state.

In 2000, the three organizations formalized their partnership
into Project Osprey, a five-year effort designed to remove osprey from
the state's threatened species list. Besides the successful location of
platform nests, project highlights include: the development of trained
volunteer stewards, who monitored and reported on nesting activity; the
construction of observation platforms near some nesting sites, to provide
the public with an up-close view of ospreys; and the creation of a middle
school curriculum that helps children learn about osprey and broader ecological
concepts.

Final project work includes the completion of a formal
recovery plan which will direct future efforts toward 'delisting' osprey
from the state's list of endangered and threatened wildlife.